The car approached the gate at the beginning of their driveway. Robert felt nerves flutter through his body, he sensed Cora was nervous too. They were on their way to tell the girls the good news. He was incredibly happy Cora had taken everything with her. They were going to keep her London house as a second home. This way they did not have to stay at Rosamund's.
Just before they entered the gate, the car stopped. And Robert started to get out. "Robert? Where are you going?" Cora asked surprised.
He did not answer, but reached for her hand.
"Robert? Why are we getting out?" Cora did not like what was going on. She was incredibly nervous to go into Downton. All the staff would be present, she knew and probably Violet too. She would have heard about Cora coming back and knowing her, she did not want to miss anything.
Robert pleaded with Cora with his eyes to come out of the car. "Before we will be overwhelmed with everything, I would love to have a couple of minutes with just you."
Cora sighed but got out of the car.
"Your luggage will be in your rooms, Milord." The chauffeur said and left when Robert closed the door.
"Are we walking up to the house?" Cora said surprised and a little bit annoyed. She was not wearing the type of shoes to walk on the gravel path towards the house.
Robert looked at her, not sure why she was against walking. They had made countless walks over the grounds of Downton. "I can call so the driver will come back to pick us up.?"
Cora saw the look in Robert's and she softened her tone. "We can walk on the grass, and you are right I love walking with you." She gave him one of her radiant smiles.
Robert took her hand and kissed her knuckles. Then he got down on one knee, what erupted a gasp from Cora.
"My darling Cora, I have not made the last couple of months easy for you. But I want to make up for them. I am blessed and very grateful that you are willing to try again with me. I do not deserve your kindness, but I am grabbing it with both hands. I want to hold on to you and cherish you, the way you deserve." The look in Cora's eyes made him chock up. He swallowed in an attempt to get the lump out of his throat.
Cora's eyes were watery, she wanted to pull Robert up and wrap her arms around him. She would never let him go, never. He was back in her life and they would make it work. She belonged to him. She softly squeezed his hands, when she saw him visible swallow. She already knew her answer to his question and it took her great effort not to say it already.
Robert felt Cora's encouragement and continued. "I remember the first time and got on one knee for you as if it was yesterday and like that time. I do not want to ask this on the grounds of Downton. Because also this time, Downton is not the reason I am going to ask this question.
Cora remembered Robert's proposal vividly. He took her to Greenwich in London. He rented the Royal Observatory for a special evening. They had dinner on the terrace, with a stunning view of the garden and the city. A harper had been playing beautiful music. After the wonderful 5 course dinner, he had asked the question. She knew the reason why he had persuaded her, he needed money to save Downton. Her family was rich and she would get a large dowry once she would marry. But during their courtship, Robert had fallen in love with her head over heels, like she had on the first date they had. He had taken her hand and guided her to the dancefloor, where he had waltzed with her like they had been partners for ages. After his proposal, he explained why he had chosen this location. He did not want to ask her at Downton, because he wanted her to know that he loved her and wanted to marry her because of who she was and not because of her money. But mostly he had chosen this location because she had changed time for him. With her in his life, it felt like time did not exist anymore. Cora felt a slight tug on her hands and she realised she had not been listening. She blinked and focused on Robert again.
"Cora. Do you want to be my wife again? Do you want to marry me?"
Cora felt the tears streaming down her face. Robert was holding up a ring, she moved her hands to his face. She bent down and kissed him passionately. She murmured: "Yes."
Robert got up, while he kept his mouth on Cora's. Her almost silent yes, was enough. He felt the movement on her lips. Her arms wrapped around his neck and he felt her body pressed against his. He put his hands on the small of her back and dug his nails into her skin. He wanted her as close as possible. She was going to be Mrs Crawley again. She would be Lady Grantham again.
"I love you!" Cora said when she pulled back. She brushed his cheek with her hand, leaned in again and pressed another kiss on his lips. "With everything that I am, I love you. And I cannot wait to be Mrs. Crawley again."
Robert gave her one of his sheepish smiles. "I never stopped loving you, my dear." He put the ring on Cora's finger.
Cora took his hand. "Let's go tell the girls, they are waiting for us."
"One more thing." Robert stopped Cora who started walking. He took something out of his pocket and gave it to Cora.
Cora looked at the item, it was an old key. Not knowing what this meant she looked at Robert. "Is this the key to your heart? Because I do not need a key for that." She kissed him again, but she felt Robert shake his head.
"No, this is the key of the door between your room and my dressing room."
Cora raised her eyebrows, she remembered her asking Carson to remove that key. She did not want a barrier between her and Robert. Why was this key back again?
"I know what you are thinking. You ask for this key to be removed. But I think it is important that you have it back. You need to be able to lock that door."
"Robert? No. No, I do not want this key. Darling, I trust you and like I said then, I say now. I trust you to not break that trust by entering when I ask you not to do so."
"We will put the key in a drawer." Robert said.
Cora shook her head and leaned in so she could brush her nose over Robert's. "I am going to marry you again because I want things to be back to what they were and that means that the door between those two rooms will never be locked. Come on." She hooked her arm in his and started walking. "It is time to start this next chapter of our lives."
This was the last chapter of this story.I want to thank all my readers and everybody who left a review. Those reviews helped me a lot in this story because sometimes I did not know where to go. In the end, I hope it was a good story.There is an idea forming for thenext story, soI will keep writing
